Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Modern Working Practices Review

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) self employed workers, (2) employees on zero hours contracts, and (3) part-time employees, they expect to benefit from new protections brought forward following the Taylor Review.

lord henley: Government will be carrying out full impact assessments in relation to employment protections once the consultations have concluded and all decisions have been taken on next steps.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Tobacco

lord faulkner of worcester: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether UK overseas posts have facilitated meetings on tobacco control legislation between the tobacco industry and foreign government ministers or officials since the issuing of revised guidance to posts in December 2013; and whether they will give details of each case.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The Government has standing instructions to all diplomatic staff to follow the revised December 2013 guidelines on interactions with tobacco companies. In line with this guidance, assistance may be offered to counter discriminatory practices. The Government does not catalogue the representations it makes on behalf of companies.

Intelligence Services

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government with which countries the UK has no intelligence sharing agreements.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: ​It is the long standing policy of successive Governments not to comment on matters of intelligence.

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service

lord blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the performance of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

lord keen of elie: The performance of the DPP is reviewed on a regular basis and the Attorney General has regular meetings with the DPP about the work of the Crown Prosecution Service. The Crown Prosecution Service is also regularly inspected by HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate which includes looking at performance within each area and on a national level for thematic reports.

Department for International Development

Nepal: Overseas Aid

the earl of sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what their development priorities are for Nepal over the next five years; and what support they intend to provide for reforestation and sustainable forestry.

lord bates: The UK government’s three main development priorities are: 1) Supporting Nepal’s transition to an effective federal democracy; 2) Accelerating the rate of inclusive growth to generate jobs; and  3) Ensuring that the most vulnerable are better protected from shocks. Forestry support will be provided through our market development programmes that will work with forestry enterprises to create jobs and our climate programmes which will support afforestation to reduce emissions and protect watersheds. In addition the UK government is a core supporter of the World Bank, Forestry Investment Programme that is developing a £18.5m forestry programme in Nepal.

Nepal: Overseas Aid

the earl of sandwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much humanitarian aid, including earthquake relief and reconstruction, they have provided to Nepal in each of the last five years; and what impact, if any, this has had on the amount of healthcare and sustainable development funding that has been provided.

lord bates: As reported in “Statistics on International Development 2017” (available at www.gov.uk) the UK’s humanitarian support to Nepal was £5 million in 2012, nothing in 2013 and 2014, £35.9 million in 2015 and £13.2 million in 2016. In 2016, the UK committed a further £83 million for Post-Earthquake Reconstruction (2016 – 2022). Although disrupted by the 2015 earthquake, we have maintained our commitment to healthcare and sustainable development over the period.

Overseas Aid

lord stoddart of swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total amount spent on overseas aid, including UK aid administered by the EU, between 2010 and 2017.

lord bates: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 15 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The total amount of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) between 2010 and 2016, including UK aid administered by the EU is shown in the table below. Preliminary ODA spend figures for 2017 will be available in the spring in Statistics on International Development.   Table: Total UK ODA and UK ODA through the EU, 2010 to 2016 YearTotal UK ODA, £ billion  20108.520118.620128.8201311.4201411.7201512.1201613.4Source: Statistics on International Development The total spending on UK ODA is published annually in the statistics on International Development.

lord bates: The total amount of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) between 2010 and 2016, including UK aid administered by the EU is shown in the table below. Preliminary ODA spend figures for 2017 will be available in the spring in Statistics on International Development.   Table: Total UK ODA and UK ODA through the EU, 2010 to 2016 YearTotal UK ODA, £ billion  20108.520118.620128.8201311.4201411.7201512.1201613.4Source: Statistics on International Development The total spending on UK ODA is published annually in the statistics on International Development.

Ministry of Defence

Veterans

lord shinkwin: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Armed Forces veterans there are in the UK in total, including those not in receipt of a pension or payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; and of those, how many are below the age of 66.

earl howe: The Ministry of Defence estimates that in 2016 there were 2.5 million UK Armed Forces veterans residing in households across Great Britain (GB, excluding Northern Ireland), of whom 936,000 (some 37%) were aged between 16 and 64. A breakdown of those aged 16-65 is not available. Further detail on the estimated size and socio-demographic characteristics of the UK Armed Forces veteran population residing in GB can be found in the 'Annual Population Survey: UK Armed Forces Veterans Residing in Great Britain', the latest edition of which (2016) is published at the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-population-survey-uk-armed-forces-veterans-residing-in-great-britain.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Protection

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how their 25-year environmental planning and implementation policies will be coordinated to involve all relevant Government departments and agencies.

lord gardiner of kimble: The 25 Year Environment Plan is a Government plan and will inform environmental policy for the next 25 years including the upcoming Agricultural and Fisheries Bills, and will sit alongside the Clean Growth Plan, the Industrial Strategy and other related Government initiatives.

River Itchen

lord vinson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take, through the appropriate agencies, to safeguard the unique Special Area of Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest of the Upper River Itchen from threats of pollution and abstraction.

lord gardiner of kimble: The current Water Framework Directive classification for the River Itchen is Good. The Environment Agency (EA) regulates abstraction from and discharges to rivers by issuing permits and checking that these are being complied with. Permit limits are set to ensure the protection of the environment. The EA regularly reviews permits based on the evidence available and it amends these limits when necessary. As part of its ongoing programme of restoring sustainable abstraction the EA is reviewing abstraction permits. Since 2007 this work has reduced the amount of water being abstracted from the River Itchen catchment each year by more than 5.35 million cubic metres. The EA is also reviewing discharge permits and has successfully reduced the levels of chemicals such as phosphates entering the river system.

Sheep Meat: UK Trade with EU

baroness quin: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held, in conjunction where appropriate with the devolved administrations, with representatives of the UK's sheep farming industry about maintaining and increasing sheep meat exports to the EU post-Brexit.

baroness quin: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held, in conjunction where appropriate with the devolved administrations, with representatives of the UK's sheep farming industry about finding new export opportunities for that industry post-Brexit.

lord gardiner of kimble: Defra Ministers and officials have regular meetings with the devolved administrations and with representatives of the UK’s sheep farming industry to discuss a wide range of issues affecting the sheep sector.

Fish: UK Trade with EU

baroness byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tonnes of fish caught by other member states of the EU in the period 2013 to 2015 were acquired by the UK.

lord gardiner of kimble: Over the period 2013-2015, the UK imported 700,000 tonnes of fish products worth £2.5 billion from the other EU Member States. Import statistics include fish caught by EU Member States, fish caught in waters outside of the EU but imported into other Member States prior to entering the UK, and fish caught by UK vessels that are landed into and sold in another Member State before import into the UK. Further information on UK imports of fish products can be found in the Marine Management Organisation’s annual UK Sea Fisheries Statistics publications.

Animals: Overseas Trade

baroness byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any ban or strict controls on the export of live animals after Brexit will be matched by the same controls on import of live animals.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government’s manifesto commitment is that as we leave the EU, we can take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter. We are considering all the options in line with the commitment made in the manifesto.

Ritual Slaughter

baroness mcintosh of pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of meat (1) sold as Halal which has not been slaughtered in accordance with Halal requirements, and (2) not sold as Halal which has been slaughtered in accordance with Halal requirements nonetheless.

lord gardiner of kimble: There are currently no specific EU or national requirements governing the sale and labelling of Halal or Kosher meat. Where any information of this nature is provided voluntarily, it must be accurate and must not be misleading. It is for Muslim religious authorities to determine what is Halal and as such some Halal accreditation bodies will accept meat from animals that are stunned prior to slaughter as Halal, whereas others will only accept meat from animals slaughtered without stunning.